Day 20: Mountjoy Prison, Dublin

This morning I drove into the Centre of Dublin for a pre-arranged meeting at Mountjoy Prison. I was amazed how easy it was to drive into and through Dublin on a Monday morning, less than 18-hours after the Pope's departure,

My maternal grandfather was a political prisoner held in Mountjoy Prison in 1923/24 due to his leadership in the Irish War of Independence and Civil War. He participated in a failed tunnel escape before Christmas 1923 and then went on a 42-day hunger strike demanding the release of all political prisoners that resulted in his release in 1924.

He was later officially commended for his leadership by President de Valera and the Irish Government.

Mountjoy, "The Joy", was built by the British in 1850 and remains Ireland's largest prison, with a population this morning of 675 men and 123 women. It is not accessible to the public, but I was given a private tour & access to some archives, arranged through the Governor (warden).

I was even invited to lunch with about 150 prison officers, which was a lot of fun. I declined to shoot pool with some them which resulted in my cane being confiscated and used as a pool stick!

Though I was not permitted to take any inside photos, I was shown many historical photos from the period my grandfather was incarcerated. It was an enlightening and moving experience to say the least.

I am very grateful to the Governor's secretary, Elaine Fagan, and to Sean Reynolds, for giving me such a warm welcome. Sean was most generous with his attention and time.

He gave two others similar tours inside the prison this year. The first, to English singer/songwriter, Boy George, who came to learn the facts behind the execution of his great-uncle, IRA volunteer Thomas Bryan, in Mountjoy Prison during the War of Independence in 1921.

Second was to American actor, Martin Sheen, who found out about his close family links to Ireland's War of Independence while taking part in the US version of the hit genealogy television series Who Do You Think You Are?

It was also a pleasure meeting Fr. Kelley, a Roman Catholic religious priest and the prison's only chaplain.

These Guinness bottles were very recently discovered under a cell floor in the ward my grandfather would have been in with other political prisoners of the IRA, all in single cells. They were confirmed to be bottled the year my grandfather was there and I hope they were his!

I posses a ring that my grandfather fashioned while a POW and it was explained to me today that it was common for prisoners to make such things, and they told me how he would have done it using a coin, a teaspoon, a nail, a rock, and matches.

After my visit to Mountjoy, I dropped off my luggage at Trinity

College and returned my hired (rented) car, and walked back to Trinity where the weather was perfect and I enjoyed more soup, Irish bread, music, and good company with Rob from England (my apartment mate) and Maureen from Seattle.

Happiness is returning a rental car in Ireland without having locked my keys in, knocked off a side mirror, hit a goat, driven into a ditch, or off a cliff!

Over three weeks I clocked 1,828 kilometers, about 1,136 miles traveling around the island on some really wild and crazy roads. At nearly $6.00 a gallon for petrol, I don't want to know what that total cost was!

This map is more or less the area I drove, though I mostly hugged the coast on the Wild Atlantic Way, visiting many remote areas.